Bringing Mayo's Water to Dublin

Shell to Sea bring samples of contaminated water to the Dept of the Environment in Dublin.

Erris drinking water comes from Carrowmore Lake. The lake is becoming heavily contaminated with aluminium as a by-product of the removal of peat from the site of the giant gas refinery that Shell seek to construct at Beal an Átha Buí (known in English as Ballinaboy or Bellinaboy).

As a part of Shell's scheme the company's contractors have had to transfer tons of peat from Beal an Átha Buí to a facility owned and operated by Bord na Móna at Srahmore. Underneath the top layer of peat is a substance called dobe, which has a very high aluminium content. Rain causes pools of aluminium contaminated water on the site to overflow and run into nearby Carrowmore Lake. Carrowmore Lake is the source of Mayo County Council's drinking water supply for the Erris area.

Controversy has raged about the condition of the drinking water in Erris, since it was found that the water treatment machinery that Shell's contractors are using has never worked to its full capacity. Shell to Sea observers have recorded that the machinery meant to purify the water has rarely worked at all.

The local authority has claimed that there is no problem with the water in Carrowmore Lake. The Council's own testing regime has detected high aluminium content in the drinking water, but instead of properly investigating, they have claimed that this is a consequence of human error in the laboratory.

Campaigners from Shell to Sea set up a table on Friday at lunchtime at the pedestrian entrance to the the Customs House and offered glasses of water from the Erris drinking water supply to staff of the Department of the Environment and Local Government as they leave for lunch.

An invitation to attend the water tasting event was sent to Environment Minister Dick Roche, but no reply was received, and of course he didn't appear.

Unsurprisingly, no one accepted the offer of a glass of water, nor did anyone from the Department come out to speak to the protesters.

The construction of the giant refinery inland is part of the scheme to process the gas onshore rather than on an offshore rig, as is the normal practice. Shell and their partners Statoil and Marathon seek to transport raw untreated gas to the refinery site by means of an experimental pipeline system. Protests over the scheme led to the imprisonment of five men from the area for three months last year. The Rossport Five were recently told that they would face no further court action, but have been held liable for Shell's legal costs, estimated to run to hundreds of thousands of euro.

Dublin Shell to Sea campaigners recently blockaded Shell's Dublin Office by chaining bicycles together outside and locking the front door. Last month they delivered a twenty foot long section of pipeline to the Statoil office in the IFSC. Further protests are planned for next month around the time of Norwegian Constitution Day (May 17th), focusing on Norway's part in the exploitation of Ireland's natural resources .

This weekend the campaign is having a fundraiser at the Cobblestone pub in Smithfield on Sunday evening with Vincent McGrath and Micheál Ó Seighin of the Rossport Five playing traditional music, and joined by the Rossport Reel, Seán Garvey, and Mary Mullen. See http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75500.

For more information on Dublin Shell to Sea or to get on the mailing list for events, send an email to DublinShelltoSea@gmail.com.

would you like some Erris water? The Dept of the Environment say it's fine...